A preliminary study on standardizing the K-Bayley-III expressive communication scale

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this is a preliminary study on developing the Korean version of the Expressive Communication Scale of Bayley-III (K-Bayley-III) by analyzing the components and difficulty of each item and examining whether the items are socio-culturally and linguistically appropriate for assessing the expressive language skills of Korean young children. Methods: A total of 48 original items and 8 additional items were translated, reviewed, modified, removed, or added to the latest version of the K-Bayley-III expressive communication (EC) scale and were used to assess the expressive language skills of 373 Korean infants and toddlers between ages 16 days and 42 months, 15 days residing in Seoul and Gyeonggi province. Results: Overall, items were appropriately placed in the order of difficulty, and those with inadequate difficulty levels were replaced, modified, or removed. Most baseline items showed a 90% pass rate. Inter-item consistency showed acceptable levels and items were highly reliable in terms of test-retest reliability and inter-rater reliability. Items from the EC scale showed significant correlations with the Language scale, RC scale, and motor scales, and also demonstrated high levels of content validity and concurrent validity. Conclusion: These results indicate that the K-Bayley-III Expressive Communication scale could be used to assess the general expressive language development of Korean infants and toddlers. Items that did not reflect the characteristics of Korean language development were suggested to be replaced or modified in order to develop a final version of the standardized K-Bayley-III expressive scale. © 2014 Korean Academy of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology.